If System Restore decides not to cooperate, it can add an extra layer of frustration onto your existing issues. Many different factors can affect its performance, but these pointers should help you get to the root of the problem.

1. Create a System Restore Point Manually

Your first port of call during System Restore irregularities should be to manually create a System Restore point. While this is unlikely to solve the problem outright, you may well be presented with an error message that makes it easier to diagnose what’s wrong.

To get started, type Restore Point into your search bar and click on the result titled Create a restore point. Click the button labelled Create and choose a name, then wait for the process to complete and see if an error message pops up.

Type Restore Point into the search bar and click on Create a Restore Point. You’ll see the Available Drives listed under the Protection Settings subheading, alongside a column telling you whether or not they’re protected. To change this setting, click on the desired drive to highlight it and then click on Configure. A radio toggle will allow you to turn System Restore protection on or off.

As with almost any other technical issue, turning System Restore off and on again is well worth a try.

Click the Configure button and you’ll be able to tweak your Disk Space Usage. Try using the slider to increase your allocated space, then create a new Restore Point to see whether it has had the desired effect.

5. Confirm Essential Services are Running

System Restore relies on a few different services to do its job; without them, it can’t function. Fortunately, it’s very easy to check whether or not they are active by typing Services into the search bar and opening the app.

You’ll be presented with a long list of all the services that are loaded onto your computer, but you’re just looking for three:

Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service

Task Scheduler

Volume Shadow Copy

Make sure the Name column is sorted alphabetically, then skim through the list to find these three services. You need to confirm that all of them are Running and are set to Automatic in the Startup Type column.

You might also want to try the similar System File Checker tool with this command:

sfc /scannow

7. Boot Into Safe Mode

Problems affecting System Restore can often be traced back to services and drivers from a source other than Microsoft. Safe Mode strips your computer’s abilities back to the bare essentials, meaning that those processes won’t interfere with your procedure. You’ll still have to find the culprit if you want to fix the issue permanently, but dropping into Safe Mode can be a useful stopgap if you’re in a bind.

8. Try Selective Startup

Selective Startup is a similar tool to Safe Mode, in that it reduces the amount of processes running on your computer to make it easier to diagnose problems. Type System Configuration into the search box and open the top result to get started.

You can check and uncheck the Load system services and Load startup items boxes to customize how your computer behaves at startup. For more information on using Selective Startup to troubleshoot, refer to Microsoft’s guide to the process.

9. Consult the Event Viewer

You might be able to find some clues about errors pertaining to System Restore processes by delving into the Event Viewer. Search for the utility and open it up to get started — you’ll need to expand the Windows Logs folder, then click on Applications.

10. Check Your Timing

As simple as it might sound, your System Restore strife might be caused by something as straightforward as your computer being asleep when it’s scheduled to create a new image. Your PC won’t be able to wake itself up to do the job — unless you have a handy tool called Restore Point Creator.

Among a host of other advantages, Restore Point Creator offers users the opportunity to schedule the task for the future, and instruct their system to wake up at that specified time. This option is available by navigating to System Restore Point Utilities > Schedule creation of System Restore Points and then checking the box labelled Wake computer if the system is sleeping.

11. Employ a Third-Party Alternative

If you really can’t fix System Restore, you could always try a different solution. This won’t help anyone in the midst of a crisis right now, but for those readers that are just setting up their defenses, a backup plan could pay dividends down the line. Deep Freeze is one paid program that fulfills a similar role to System Restore, but there are also other free alternatives.

I'm glad to see that people are starting to ackowledge that WSR is flawed. I've had problems going back to Win 7, but at the time there wasn't an alternative. With programs like Rollback Rx and Comodo Time Machine it's proof that you can easily do what WSR does but a lot better.

I will try some of these ideas though, because while I use Rollback Rx, I do want to better understand WSR and perhaps my past issues with it could be fixed.